Clugston Construction

EMS appointed as Virtual Environmental Manager for Clugston Construction.

When recognising the growing impact of Environmental legislation and aiming to enhance commitment to this key area of corporate responsibility, Clugston Construction appointed EMS to provide a flexible, cost effective environmental management service lead by a team of expert consultants.

Background

Part of the privately owned £140m plus Clugston group, Clugston Construction are a Construction Company who build, engineer and service high profile and award winning schemes and facilities for national and international customers. Operating in a wide range of markets, Clugston Construction have project experience in sectors such as renewable energy, infrastructure, education, health and process industries. Aside from developing award winning schemes for their clients, Clugston also lead from the forefront of their market, driving new innovative construction techniques and developing new sustainable technologies

Origins and Requirement

Clugston Construction originally commissioned EMS to work with them during 2011, providing support with the review of procedures in line with ISO14001 requirements, the provision of legislation updates, aid with environmental compliance, and the carrying out of environmental site inspections. During 2012, Clugston Construction's turnover and range of activities grew, increasing their requirements for environmental support. One of Clugston Construction’s core business values revolves around environmental preservation and the committed and continual improvement of environmental performance and pollution prevention. Therefore it was extremely important that at this time extra support was allocated to give this matter the proper focus and attention required. Given the existing relationship, it seemed a natural move for Clugston to extend EMS’ remit and appoint them to lead the Company’s Environmental Management systems in 2012.

Approach

To allocate the required resources in order to lead Clugston Construction’s Environmental Management Systems, EMS was appointed as their Virtual Environmental Manager. As part of the contract, the EMS team tailored a professional environmental support tool that encompassed a range of functions in three main areas. 1. Ensure that Clugston Construction maintain compliance with all applicable pieces of environmental legislation to avoid any prosecution. This is achieved through site inspections and audits as well as the update of environmental procedures in line with ISO14001. Our compliance services also included the review of environmental insurance requirements on complex sites, and support with the application of waste exemptions and permits. 2. Support of tender and bidding proposals. This is achieved by completing the environmental aspects of tender submission, providing relevant copy on environmental requirements and gathering quality environmental evidence. 3. Environmental training and awareness. An assessment of staff training needs and the identification of employee skills gaps is carried out for all departments, allowing the development of an employee training programme for 2013.

Results/Benefits

As a result of EMS' appointment as Virtual Environmental Manager, Clugston Construction have been able to maintain a strong commitment to their environmental values. Not only was this commitment maintained, but the choice to outsource their environmental management needs came with a number of significant benefits. Primarily, the Virtual Environmental Manager service acted as an extremely cost effective and time flexible tool when compared to permanent members of staff. The availability of a consultancy team as opposed to a single member of staff was also very beneficial. Free phone telephone support was also supplied as part of the service, and was ideal for handling any questions or queries.

Conclusion

The Virtual Environmental Manager has proven to be an extremely useful and beneficial environmental management tool for Clugston Construction, who continues to be one of our most valued clients. More information on our Virtual Environmental Manager and other advisory services can be found here. Alternatively, why not contact Rebecca Chapman on 0114 272 2270 or email rchapman@em-solutions.co.uk.

Good Environmental performance is fundamental to our business and as environmental business demands grew beyond our existing capacity, our previous experience of EMS lead us to consider that outsourcing would provide us with the best solution. It is evident to me that we have been able to improve compliance, awareness and performance within our business in a cost effective manner through the capability and flexibility of EMS.